renewable electricity.

Not All Electricity is Created Equal

UB is committed to reducing the harmful effects of climate change by utilizing clean and renewable energy sources such as hydro, geothermal, wind and solar to generate electricity. Our goal is to purchase 100% of our electricity from clean sources by 2025.

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Sub-strategies

  • Phase I (pre-2022): Continue to procure 100% of electricity from Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) and reduce appropriately as project RECs become available.
  • Phase II (2021): Achieve 50% of electricity sourced directly from clean energy sources through REV initiative.
  • Phase III (2025): Achieve 100% of electricity sourced directly from clean energy sources through next phase of aggregation.

Policies

New York State's energy and carbon reduction goals as well as the newly enacted Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act provide a solid foundation upon which the committee will work. In addition, our university will further policy development at the local level and continue partnering with NYSERDA and other community partners to leverage purchasing power of anchor community institutions for large scale renewable purchases.

Updates

Fall 2020 - Spring 2021 [0:51]

UB is on track to install approximately 12 megawatts of on-site solar within the year, which will consist of ground-mounted arrays as well as rooftops. This will increase campus capacity by 15 times the current levels. In addition to the on-site work, a consortium of local institutions, including UB, is also drafting an off-site RFP that will boost overall acquisition to 50% of UB’s overall electricity consumption.

Committee

  • Captain: Ryan McPherson, chief sustainability officer
  • Suzanne Gentz, Director, Facilities Finance 
  • Avis Grundler, Utilities Specialist/Analyst, Facilities Finance
  • Dominic Lotempio, Director of Procurement Systems and Compliance, Procurement Services
  • Lawrence Poturalski, Electrical Engineer, Design and Construction

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